The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia has expressed its outrage to the US State Department after Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher suggested it was not a country, and should be partitioned by neighbors such as Kosovo and Bulgaria.

According to Rohrabacher, the creation of Macedonia itself was a failed project, and the atmosphere is ripe for a fresh redrawing of the borders.

“There is such a division in their country they will never be able to live together in the future. For this reason, Kosovars and Albanians from Macedonia should be part of Kosovo and the rest of Macedonia should be part of Bulgaria or any other country to which they believe they are related,” he was cited as saying by Bulgarian news wire BGNES in a translation from Albanian.

“The idea is to keep Macedonia alive because someone 30 years ago decided it is a configuration that should come out of the dismantling of Yugoslavia,” Rohrabacher continued.

But the congressman did not stop there. Asked if US President Donald Trump would be in favor of a partition, Rohrabacher said he has “influence on US policy makers now,” given his position on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. “We will have hearings in the coming months,” he was cited by Albanian English news source Ocnal as saying.

On the issue of border redrawing, Rohrabacher said this would ideally be carried out with peace for the Balkans in mind.

The congressman also added that he is not afraid of Russian influence in the Balkan region.

These words led to a swift response from Skopje, whose foreign ministry took the issue up with Washington.

“His expressed views,” the statement reads, “generated immense anxiety regarding Macedonia and the region. They inflame nationalist rhetoric in the neighboring regions, taking us back into the past. We believe that the US State Department will adequately remove any doubt about the stated positions and will affirm its policy towards Macedonia and the Balkans.”

Rohrabacher currently chairs the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, and has served in the House of Representatives since 1989. During this time, he has had similar ideas. In 2012, he pitched a resolution for the self-determination of the Aziri people living inside Iran, suggesting to VOA Azerbaijani in an interview that the ethnic grouping should have the right not to be part of a state governed by “monstrous religious fanatics.”

Rohrabacher suggested in January to the Washington Post he would be visiting Moscow with a delegation “within a month” of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president. The plans are not yet confirmed and would first have to be approved by Representative Ed Royce (R-California), the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who takes a hardline approach to Russia.

Rohrabacher, who has been called a part of the GOP’s “lunatic fringe” by Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), has been vocal on constructive dialogue with Russia, earning him much ire with his Republican cohorts.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

The Court of Appeals in
Colmar, France, on Thursday decided to postpone its decision on whether
to extradite Ramush Haradinaj to Serbia.
Source: B92, TanjugThursday, February 9, 2017 | 19:22

(Tanjug/AP, file)

Haradinaj, a Kosovo Albanian politician and a former
commander of the KLA ("Kosovo Liberation Army"), was arrested in France
in early January on a Serbian war crimes warrant.
The court said in a statement that the decision on Serbia's extradition request would be made during a hearing scheduled for March 2.

Haradinaj spent a week in jail in France, before he was released on bail and prohibited from leaving the country pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.

Appearing before the court on Thursday, the former leader of the
terrorist KLA said he did not accept to be extradited to Serbia, and
described the case against him as "political."

A spokeswoman
for the court told Tanjug that the French state prosecutor has asked for
"more information from Serbia on several issues" - including more
precise information regarding certain documents, and additional
information about criminal proceedings in Serbia.

Earlier in
the day, she said that Serbia would have no right to appeal if its
extradition request is rejected, whereas if the court rules to extradite
Haradinaj to Serbia - "the French government will make the final
decision" on whether that will happen.

Tanjug is reporting that
a large number of Haradinaj's supporters were present in the courtroom
today, including those wearing t-shirts with the symbols of "Greater
Albania" - an Albanian expansionist project.

CIA director Mike Pompeo arrived in Turkey on Thursday to discuss the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq with Turkish authorities.

It is Pompeo’s first foreign trip since taking charge of the agency. He was scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the head of Turkish intelligence, discussing issues including a possible mission to recapture the extremist group’s stronghold of Raqqa in Syria.

The report follows a phone call between President Trump and Erdogan on Tuesday.

It came as Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency reported Thursday that police arrested four suspected Islamic State militants near the border with Syria for plotting a “sensational” attack.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Almost six in ten Greeks (58%) agree with the notion of banning Muslim migrants from entering the country, while 55% of Europeans share the same view, a study shows.

The survey, published in Britain’s Independent, was conducted by Chatham House before U.S. President Donald Trump signed the executive order that prohibits citizens of seven Muslim countries to enter the United States.

In Greece, 58% of respondents favor such a ban, 20% disagree and 22% said they don’t know if they agree or disagree.

The study was conducted taking population samples from 10 European countries, namely Germany, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Spain, France and Austria. In eight out of the ten countries, the majority of citizens were against Muslim migrants entering their country. On average, 55% of Europeans are in favor of a Muslim ban, 20% are against and 25% don’t know if they agree or disagree with such a measure.

Poland showed the highest support of a Muslim ban (71%), followed by a 65% in Austria. In Hungary, Belgium and France, over 60% of citizens share the same view. In no country the percentage of disagreement was higher than 32.

Age and level of education of respondents were significant factors in the study, with the majority of older people being against Muslim migrants. At the same time, 59% of respondents with secondary level education are in favor of a ban, while less than half of degree holders agree with the notion.

The Chatham House survey results are similar to a 2016 study conducted by Pew, measuring how Europeans view Muslim people who live in their country. According to that study, 72% of Hungarians had a negative view of Muslims, followed by 69% of Italians, 66% of Poles, 65% of Greeks and 50% of Spaniards.

Luke CoffeyDirector of the Foreign Policy Center at the Heritage Foundation

This post is hosted on the Huffington Post’s Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and post freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.US Needs Clear Policy in the Balkans The new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is a highly accomplished individual. As CEO of ExxonMobil, he presided over world’s largest oil and gas company with an annual revenue of almost $270 billion— or about the size of Pakistan’s total economy. Having worked and lived in places from Yemen to Russia—and many places in between—he is perhaps one of the most accomplished geo-political operators ever to have been confirmed to the post.

Even so, one thing is certain: Tillerson has an uphill battle ahead of him. Standing in his way of implementing US foreign policy is the bureaucratic blob molded during the Obama years and now stuck in its ways—referred as the Fourth Branch of Government.

Make no mistake; there are some career civil servants who will work in the interest of the U.S. no matter what political party occupies the White House. However, many officials have become politicized with many lean their support towards the Democrats. According to research carried out by Тhe Hill, about 95 percent of political contributions by federal employees went to Democrat Hillary Clinton during the presidential race. Some career officials have even pledged to “resist” the new administration. This will be a problem for the new administration.

Unfortunately, the political activism of the State Department spreads beyond Foggy Bottom and extends to America’s global network of embassies and missions to international organizations.

One obvious example of this is in the Balkans.

In recent months the U.S. Embassy in Albania has been accused of meddling in the internal affairs of that country. Some of the accusations deal with U.S. Embassy’s alleged collusion with leftwing groups like the Open Society Foundation. The Open Society Foundation is a George Soros network of non-government organizations that promotes the billionaire’s “progressive” ideology worldwide, which is often inimical to U.S. interests. The “progressive” agenda of the Open Society Foundation is often tone-deaf to local sensitivities—both religious and cultural—especially in places like the Balkans.

Although an important NATO ally in the Balkans, the Albania faces many challenges. Controversial reform of its judicial system was recently passed in the parliament. There was no national consensus because the opposition Democratic Party headed by Lulzim Basha, boycotted the vote since it felt that its concerns about the legislation were ignored. For years U.S. AID projects focused on judicial reform have been funded, in part, by the Open Society Foundation. George Soros’ meddling in Albania is nothing new. Prime Minister Edi Rama, a Socialist, even attended Soros’s wedding. When Hillary Clinton headed the State Department Soros was communicating directly with her and her staff to help promote his agenda in Albania.

The U.S. Ambassador to Albania, Donald Lu, recently and very publically accused Albania’s General Prosecutor Mr. Adriatik Llalla of impeding judicial reform in the country. This has caused outrage in Albania. Mr Llalla has written to both President Bujar Nishani and the chairman of the Albanian parliament Ilir Meta to complain about the ambassador’s brash behavior. Mr. Llalla even claims in the letter that Ambassador Lu has threaten him. The letter reads:

“In official and unofficial communications, Ambassador Lu has made it clear to Prosecutor Llalla that if he will not publicly support the changes to the law, it will result in personal and institutional consequences,”What a diplomatic mess!

This is on the back of the U.S. Embassy recently denying visas to 70 prosecutors and judges linked to the opposition party (no visa were revoked for the ruling Socialists Party). Both incidents can be interpreted as partisan intervention by the U.S. Embassy the pre-empting a major “vetting” effort underway for members of the country’s judicial system. This has also made the political polarization in the Albania even worse.

Meddling in the domestic affairs of America’s allies is not only bad for the U.S. but contrary to the spirit and the letter of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relationship. Article 41 of the convention states that diplomats have “an obligation to not interfere in the domestic issues of that state.”

Political activism inside the halls of Foggy Bottom is bad enough, when it extends to America’s embassies it can quickly become detrimental to the good conduct of U.S. foreign relations. The job of diplomats should be to advance U.S. national interests and not the narrow political interests of a single political party or non-governmental organization.

Changing the mentality inside the State Department will be a slow and cumbersome process a keen to turning an oil supertanker in the Bosphorus. As Tillerson begins cleaning out the Augean stables of the State Department, it is worth examining if certain career ambassadors are out of step with the new administration’s foreign policy approach. There are plenty of experienced and capable individuals who are able to represent the United States who could easily fill these posts. This is common practice for the big diplomatic posts of London, Berlin, and Moscow, among many others. This practice should be considered for smaller allies too, including in the Balkans.

One of the main focuses of the Trump Administration has been this desire to rebuild relationships which have been under strain due to the policies of the previous eight years. US needs friends and allies. The U.S. also needs to advance its national interests. This is why it is vital to have ambassadors that recognize this and do not swim in the often murky waters of domestic and partisan politics.

Wednesday 8 February 2017 15.10 GMT Last modified on Wednesday 8 February 2017 16.51 GMTDonald Trump’s administration has put itself on a fresh collision course with the European Union after the president’s candidate to be ambassador in Brussels said Greece should leave the euro and predicted the single currency would not survive more than 18 months in its present form.

Days after being accused of “outrageous malevolence” towards the EU for publicly declaring that it “needs a little taming”, Ted Malloch courted fresh controversy by saying Greece should have left the eurozone four years ago when it would have been “easier and simpler”.

Malloch made his comments as financial markets began to take fright at the possibility of a fresh Greek debt crisis later this year. Shares fell and interest rates on Greek debt rose after it emerged that the EU was at loggerheads with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over whether to give the country more generous debt relief.

“Whether the eurozone survives I think is very much a question that is on the agenda,” he told Greek Skai TV’s late-night chat show Istories. “We have had the exit of the UK, there are elections in other European countries, so I think it is something that will be determined over the course of the next year, year and a half.

“Why is Greece again on the brink? It seems like a deja vu. Will it ever end? I think this time I would have to say that the odds are higher that Greece itself will break out of the euro,” Malloch said.

The stridently Brexit-supporting businessman, who has yet to be confirmed as the US president’s EU ambassador and is seen by Brussels as a provocative nominee for the post, said he wholeheartedly agreed with Trump’s tweet from 2012 saying Greece should return to the drachma, its former currency.

Follow Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump"Greece should get out of the euro & go back to their own currency--they are just wasting time".

“I personally think [Trump] was right. I would also say that this probably should have been instigated four years ago, and probably it would have been easier or simpler to do,” Malloch said in the interview with the show’s chief anchor, Alexis Papahelas.

Analysis European leaders warily await Donald Trump's choice of ambassadorThe appointment of Ted Malloch would leave little doubt that the US president is willing to destroy the European Union

Seven years of arduous austerity – the price of the international bailout – had been so bad for the country that it was questionable whether what came next could possibly be worse, Malloch said.

In the third bailout in as many years, Greece has lost more than 25% of its GDP due to austerity-fuelled recession, the biggest slump of any advanced western economy in modern times. Without further emergency funding from its €86bn (£74bn) rescue programme, Athens could face a default in July when debt repayments of about €7bn to the European Central Bank mature.

Concerns on Tuesday over Greece’s debts drove up yields on two-year government bonds to their highest level since last June, reflecting growing anxiety on financial markets over Athens’s ability to keep up to date with debt repayments.

The renewed focus came as the IMF revealed its board was split over how far spending cuts in the country should go, raising fresh doubts over the IMF’s participation in rescue plans for the struggling Greek economy. The IMF believes that the budgetary demands being imposed on Greece by Europe are unreasonable and that the country’s debts will hit 275% of national income by 2060 without fresh assistance.

Malloch said: “I have travelled to Greece, met lots of Greek people, I have academic friends in Greece and they say that these austerity plans are really deeply hurting the Greek people, and that the situation is simply unsustainable. So you might have to ask the question if what comes next could possibly be worse than what’s happening now.”

The biggest unknown was not a euro exit, but the chaos it would likely engender as Greece moved to a new currency, he said.

The governance structure of the IMF means the US could block any deal it did not support.

“If the [IMF] will not participate in a new bailout that does not include substantial debt relief, and that’s what they are saying, then that, more or less, ensures a collision course with eurozone creditors,” Malloch added, saying it was imperative that EU member states forgave a substantial part of Greece’s mountainous public debt.

“Now we all know that primarily [puts pressure on] Germany, which remains opposed to any such actions, so I think it suggests that Greece might have to sever ties and do Grexit and exit the euro,” he said.

Under bailout programmes financed mostly by Germany, Greece has been given about €336bn in rescue loans, money that Berlin and other lenders are determined to get back. The euro-denominated debt pile would be essentially erased if Greece reverted to the drachma.

Malloch’s latest intervention is unlikely to be greeted enthusiastically by EU officials, who are voicing fears that stalled bailout negotiations with creditors could pave the way for an accidental default in the summer.

Since you’re here……we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but far fewer are paying for it. And advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian's independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to pay for it, our future would be much more secure.

The head of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric, said this on Wednesday.

Commenting on media reports that Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, PM Isa Mustafa and assembly speaker Kadri Veselji had "agreed for the formation of the Community to start," Djuric said the situation was reminiscent of some kind of a political game aimed at politically subjugating and humiliating the Kosovo and Metohija Serbs.

"That is not the way of forming the ZSO that had been agreed in Brussels and that the Serbs expect. The ZSO should be formed formed based on the agreement reached between Belgrade and Pristina. It should be formed by Serb representatives in Kosovo and Metohija, not by Albanian politicians," Djuric stressed.

He added that "there would be nothing strange if the three of them announced the formation of a community of Albanian municipalities" - but as this concerns the ZSO, "this is something that's not their job."

According to Djuric, the intention of Pristina to exclude the Serb side and Belgrade from the process of dialogue is "visible."

"And that's one of the reasons why crises were being generated artificially in the past days, and now this behavior only confirms their intention to try and exclude us - however, it won't work that way," he said.

A 28-year-old Albanian national was arraigned before the courts today accused of being in possession of forged documents.

Inspector Darren Buhagiar explained
that the man had been arrested yesterday as he tried to board a flight
to Dublin. His actual Albanian passport was discovered in his checked-in
luggage.

Erjon Sala, who resides in the Albanian capital, Tirana, was accused of using a forged Romanian identity card. When arrested, the man said he had wanted to travel to Dublin for work. He cooperated with the police and told them he had bought the documents from a person in Albania for a price of €400.

The man admitted to the charges brought against him. Magistrate Francesco Depasquale found the man guilty and condemned him to a year imprisonment suspended for four years. He also ordered the man to be immediately removed from the Maltese islands and be sent back to Albania.

Home Office statistics show 981 Albanian ‘clandestine migrants’ discovered at UK entry ports from 2008 to 2016Link Security men search lorries before they depart for UK in the harbour of Zeebrugge, Belgium Security men search lorries before they depart for UK in the harbour of Zeebrugge, Belgium. Most illegal immigrants are caught before they arrive in Britain. Photograph: Jo de Man/EPA

Wednesday 8 February 2017 08.47 GMT Last modified on Wednesday 8 February 2017 09.38 GMTTwice as many Albanians have been caught as stowaways at UK ports than any other nationality, new government figures reveal.

Some 981 Albanian “clandestine migrants” were discovered at UK entry ports from 2008 until spring 2016, according to Home Office statistics released to the Guardian under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

These included a group of more than 50, including a pregnant woman, discovered in a lorry at the Humber sea terminal at Killingholme near Grimsby in June 2015. Albania is not part of the European Union, but borders Greece, an EU country, and its mafia are known to UK police as ruthless people traffickers and drug smugglers.

Afghans formed the second biggest cohort, with 425 port detections during the same period, followed by Algerians (424), Iranians (348), Indians (322), Palestinians (129) and Vietnamese (124). These include clandestine migrants found at UK Eurostar terminals and airports as well as ports and harbours.

One US passport holder was discovered stowed away, as well as one Russian and one, in 2012, from the Czech Republic, which is part of the EU. Despite the free movement of people between EU states, the UK can bar some serious criminals from entering the country.

As the refugee crisis took hold in 2015, there was a big rise in Iranians, Syrians and Iraqis caught entering the UK illegally. In the first quarter of 2016, the last period for which figures are available, there were 122 Iranians detected at UK entry ports, along with 31 Syrians and 21 Iraqis. During that three-month period 318 clandestine migrants were found at UK ports – compared with 556 in the whole of 2015, and 681 in 2014.

Most illegal immigrants are caught before they arrive in the UK, with lorries at Calais and other continental European ports x-rayed for stowaways. Yet the new figures show that hundreds each year still make it onto UK soil before they are detected. In one of the most successful border force operations, 68 migrants were discovered in the back of four lorries at Harwich in Essex, including two pregnant women and 15 children, in June 2015.

Advertisement

The Home Office appeared reluctant to release the information, only partially submitting to the Guardian’s request after they were ordered to comply with the FoI act by the information commissioner.

They refused to comply in full to the Guardian’s initial FoI request, made in May 2016, which also asked at which UK port, train station or airport clandestine migrants had been detected.

Officials from the Home Office considered the information to be exempt from disclosure “on the grounds that release would or would be likely to, prejudice the operation of the immigration controls”.

In their response to the Guardian, an official accepted there was a public interest in revealing the information. “The Home Office recognises that there is a general public interest in openness and transparency in all aspects of government. It is acknowledged that there is public interest in locations where clandestine migrants were discovered. Disclosure of the information requested would result in greater transparency and accountability around operational matters. The release of information would enhance the understanding in Border Force operations at ports of entry, such as Heathrow and Hull,” they wrote.

But they concluded that the information should be kept secret because it would help illegal immigrants and people traffickers to evade border controls.

The Home Office also refused to disclose how many of the clandestine migrants detected at UK ports claimed and received asylum, saying it would cost too much to collate the information.

Information about clandestine migrants can fall into one of three categories: (a) those stopped at the juxtaposed controls (where checks take place on certain cross-channel routes before boarding, rather than disembarkation), (b) those stopped at UK ports and (c) those picked up in-country.

The latest figures released to the Guardian only cover monthly port detections of clandestine migrants in the UK.

Most clandestine migrants are discovered trying to board boats and trains bound for the UK, rather than on UK soil. Information released under FoI laws to the Economist last year showed the number of detected clandestine entry attempts to Britain via European ports and train tunnels increased from about 1,000 a month in 2008-12 to 2,000 in late 2013, before rising to 4,000 in 2014 and almost 13,000 in July 2015.

The Orthodox priest of Drymades, father Efthimios, calling SOS: This is the red line in Himara Region

In the Ordodox Church of Drymades in Himara Region, the father Efthimios, calls all himariotes in the World, to be united, because, the albanians musulmans, are occupying properties with the help of state authorities and the police, and are demanding dominate the population of ethnic Greeks in Himara Region.

"They want to destroy us and leave our lands thousands of years, the land of our forefathers, want to eradicate our culture"....

"We will resist, we have courage, and history and we can not allow, thatforeigners, Albanians, , to" make law "on our lands and properties," said indignant, Father Efthimios.

The statement was made during a religious ceremony, given to the population in the Orthodox Church "Agia Haralambos" in Drymades of Himara.

BELGRADE – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia has expressed its outrage to the US State Department after Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher suggested it was not a country, and should be partitioned by neighbors such as Kosovo and Bulgaria.

According to Rohrabacher, the creation of Macedonia itself was a failed project, and the atmosphere is ripe for a fresh redrawing of the borders.

“There is such a division in their country they will never be able to live together in the future. For this reason, Kosovars and Albanians from Macedonia should be part of Kosovo and the rest of Macedonia should be part of Bulgaria or any other country to which they believe they are related,” he was cited as saying by Bulgarian news wire BGNES in a translation from Albanian.

“The idea is to keep Macedonia alive because someone 30 years ago decided it is a configuration that should come out of the dismantling of Yugoslavia,” Rohrabacher continued.

But the congressman did not stop there. Asked if US President Donald Trump would be in favor of a partition, Rohrabacher said he has “influence on US policy makers now,” given his position on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. “We will have hearings in the coming months,” he was cited by Albanian English news source Ocnal as saying.

On the issue of border redrawing, Rohrabacher said this would ideally be carried out with peace for the Balkans in mind.

The congressman also added that he is not afraid of Russian influence in the Balkan region.

These words led to a swift response from Skopje, whose foreign ministry took the issue up with Washington.

“His expressed views,” the statement reads, “generated immense anxiety regarding Macedonia and the region. They inflame nationalist rhetoric in the neighboring regions, taking us back into the past. We believe that the US State Department will adequately remove any doubt about the stated positions and will affirm its policy towards Macedonia and the Balkans.”

Rohrabacher currently chairs the Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats, and has served in the House of Representatives since 1989. During this time, he has had similar ideas. In 2012, he pitched a resolution for the self-determination of the Aziri people living inside Iran, suggesting to VOA Azerbaijani in an interview that the ethnic grouping should have the right not to be part of a state governed by “monstrous religious fanatics.”

Rohrabacher suggested in January to the Washington Post he would be visiting Moscow with a delegation “within a month” of Donald Trump’s inauguration as president. The plans are not yet confirmed and would first have to be approved by Representative Ed Royce (R-California), the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, who takes a hardline approach to Russia.

Rohrabacher, who has been called a part of the GOP’s “lunatic fringe” by Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), has been vocal on constructive dialogue with Russia, earning him much ire with his Republican cohorts.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Upwards of a quarter of a million Romanians have taken to the streets in record breaking numbers to protest the country’s corrupt politicians. For the first time since the fall of communism and the execution of Romania’s brutal leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena (1989), Romanians have gathered in masses to demand change.

The crowds gathered in Bucharest to protest the apparent double standard the oligarchy has created for itself. No longer is it illegal to take a bribe, for example, so long as the amount does not exceed 45,000 euros (roughly 48,500 dollars). Also, the measure sets free from prison, many politicians who were doing time for corruption.

The grassroots protest started with roughly 12,000 Romanian protesters taking to the streets outside the government building in the capital on Tuesday, and climbed daily to well over 250,000 by Friday.

Romania’s leftist Social Democrat Party (PSD) issued the emergency decree which decriminalized cases of corruption involving less than 45k euros. The PSD won the election of 2016 and the measure was one of the PSD’s first executive orders put in place since taking over power in November. To put things into perspective, consider this headline from the Economist describing the PSD’s rise to power, “Conviction politics: Romania elects a party led by a vote rigger.” Not only was the party’s leader already a convicted election defrauder, but he now reportedly wants to be the country’s new leader. Sound familiar?

Following the election, the PSD reportedly wanted then to install their leader, Liviu Dragnea, as the prime minister of Romania. However, the party was unable to do so because Dragnea was serving a two-year suspended sentence for election fraud, although he denied any wrongdoing. The suspended sentence originally barred Dragnea from ever serving as the prime minister. But with the government’s new emergency decree decriminalizing political corruption in cases involving less than 45k euros, it’s now conceivable Dragnea will be named prime minister.

The Russian embassy in Skopje, during a press release, considers unproductive speculation, of some politicians, seeking the causes of the political crisis in the rivalry of the great powers.

"We believe that the difficult internal political crisis occurred in FYROM, can only be resolved within the existing constitutional terms, the generally recognized rules of a democratic society, says the Russian embassy commenting on the current political situation in the south Slavic state of Skopje.

"All attempts to intervene in this process from the outside, to impose solutions against the will of the people, it is very dangerous and should be condemned by the world community".

The principles of equality of sovereign states and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries have universal character and their circumvention is a violation of international law, "says the embassy and stressed that the Russian Federation continues to support the security and stability of that country Balkan as an independent, sovereign and territoriality integral state.

The text of the " Plus Info ", apparently referring to reports of US intervention in the internal affairs of the country, but also in the continuing reports of Albanian Prime Minister for the Albanian element in FYROM.

The OSCE Ambassador
to Albania, Bernd Borchardt, held a meeting with students of the
University of Arts, where he mentioned democratic elections, cannabis,
the Judicial Reform, and respect for human rights as some of the
challenges Albania will face.
The OSCE Ambassador considers cannabis as the greatest threat of the
last 25 years, and said that the government needs to implement a
comprehensive national plan to combat against cannabis planting.
The OSCE Ambassador said, “There are many challenges you will face.
Elections are coming, and they are the first step to a better future.
You will make your choice. You may be tempted to sell your vote, to
photograph your vote in order to prove that you voted for the “right
people”.
You are the ones that will choose the Democracy you want to live in,
so please make the right choice. We support Albania’s Electoral Reform;
we will give our advice on the best practices. Our colleagues from the
OSCE / ODIHR will come to monitor the elections, but in the end you will
decide. ”
Borchardt said that Albania has undergone some dramatic changes with
the spread of cannabis being the most dangerous, and appealed for a
national anti-cannabis plan to be implemented, saying “Albania has gone
through dramatic changes in the last 25 years, and one of the most
dangerous for the future, is the further spread of cannabis in the
country. Cannabis harms society and future generations. We all need to
make the right choice, but especially the young people. Albania’s OSCE
monitors will support the government in its efforts to implement a
comprehensive plan to combat cannabis “-said Borchardt.
The OSCE Ambassador said that art and culture in Albania are also
facing some challenges, and he urged artists to break away from the
pitfalls of politics and address the issues important to art.

Prime Minister Aleksandar
Vucic said the same agreement concerning a wall Kosovska Mitrovica as the one implemented over the weekend, was reached on December 8.
Source: B92Monday, February 6, 2017 | 12:23

Vucic is seen in Belgrade on Monday (Tanjug)

"I don't know what somebody's intentions were in
the days that followed, and I still wonder what that was about. To
those who think they're smart and who are saying that the Serbs gave in,
I recommend to demonstrate their heroism with real deeds," Vucic said
on Monday.
According to him, "peace has been preserved and Kralja Petra Street in northern Kosovska Mitrovica protected."

"I am still confused and curious about still not receiving an answer -
why wasn't everything done the same evening," said Vucic.

"You're bothered by Belgrade. Well, say you're bothered by Belgrade. Why
were you bribing Serb List (Kosovo) assembly members? Because you
wanted to separate them from Belgrade? I don't recommend doing that, you
can't win. I'm waiting for them to tell me I lied and didn't say the
truth. Nobody from the EU can say that, and I still have not spoken
about a good chunk of the details in front of the citizens," the prime
minister said.

Vucic also stated that US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher - who has reportedly sent a letter
to Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, proposing "a land swap"
involving southern parts of central Serbia and northern Kosovo - "was
both to Belgrade and in Pristina."

"He (Rohrabacher) is close
to the Albanian lobby, these are some attempts to (reach) other
solutions. Our Constitution speaks clearly about (territorial)
integrity," Vucic stressed.

He added that he "expects nothing from (Kosovo) Albanians."

"I don't believe them at all, they want to make an NGO out of the ZSO (Community of Serb Municipalities) and play gramophone
records. The whole essence of everything is, 'how can we make a mockery
of what has been signed four years ago'. I don't believe them at all.
Not them, and not those who are protecting them," the prime minister
said.

President Tomislav Nikolic
has not received a letter from a US congressman reportedly proposing "an
exchange of territories," the daily Vecernje Novosti said.
Source: Blic, TanjugMonday, February 6, 2017 | 13:44

Sources at the Presidency said on Monday afternoon they
were unaware of the existence of such a letter, and had only heard about
it "from the media."
Earlier, another Belgrade-based daily, Blic, reported
that U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican who chairs the US
House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging
Threats, had sent a letter to Nikolic.

According to the
newspaper, Rohrabacher proposed "an exchange of territories" in southern
Serbia for those in northern Kosovo as "a solution that would ease
tensions in this part of the Balkans."

Southern Serbia has the
largest ethnic Albanian minority in Serbia outside of Kosovo itself,
while the north of Kosovo is predominantly inhabited by Serbs.

According to the daily's Sunday edition, the US congressman wrote that "instead of the negative examples, such as sending a train
with provocative symbols to Kosovo" it may be in the mutual interest to
consider "an exchange of territories that would result in a greater
number of Serbs in Serbia and a greater number of Kosovars (Kosovo Albanians) in Kosovo."

According to the same source, Rohrabacher stated that this option was "possible" and, "should not be ignored."

Photo released by the Chinese embassy
in Albania shows counsellor Bai Yunbin (2nd R) and defense attache Liu
Xingjiang (1st R) coordinate the rescue operation in the town of
Bulqiza, north Albania, on Feb. 5, 2017. (Photo/Xinhua)

The Chinese embassy in Albania confirmed on Sunday that three Chinese
miners were trapped in a chromium mine in the town of Bulqiza, north
Albania, and the other Chinese miner got injured after a hydrogen gas
explosion there.
The embassy has sent a working team to Bulqiza to coordinate the rescue operation and visit the Chinese miners.
According the Albanian state police, the Albanian authorities on
Sunday continued the rescue operations in order to find the three
Chinese miners trapped in the mine.
A hydrogen gas explosion took place on Saturday, leaving three miners trapped inside the mine at level 21.
A total of 10 miners were injured and three of them are still in critical condition.
The search and rescue teams have so far arrived at level 14 of the mine.

Rohrabacher: "One of the issues that we will discuss is the change of the borders so that they make sense and bring peace to the Balkans".

US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher is one of the most significant people in the House of Representatives. As a former aide to President Reagan, Mr. Rohrabacher likes to give a jolt of internal policies and external. He expects enthusiastically carrying out such a policy by the new President of Trump.

Vision Plus TV in Albania, was in the US Congress, in the office of Mr. Rohrabacher few days after he sent a letter to Serbian President Nikolic, in which, asked to examine the possibility of exchange of territories in the north of Kosovo, as the most good. Rohrabacher goes further: Let's change the boundaries of Macedonia (FYROM).

Change Balkans borders?

Dana Rohrabacher:... My position is that Macedonia is not a state. I'm sorry but it is not a state. They are so divided that they never will be able to go well together. So Kosovars and Albanians in Macedonia should be part of Kosovo. While the rest of the country should become part of Bulgaria or any other country with whom they claim to be related. The idea that Macedonia will keep alive because someone 30 years ago decided that this is the configuration that should emerge from the breakup of Yugoslavia, does not lead to an explanation that this idea is still held.

But the administration will support this idea Trump?

Dana Rohrabacher:

I have influence on US policy makers now. I am chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives that deals with that part of the world. We will have hearings in the coming months. One of the issues that we will discuss is the change of the borders so that they make sense and bring peace to the Balkans.

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Ties between Ankara and Athens remained strained over the weekend, with Greece’s armed forces under instructions to remain alert but calm, following an escalating war of words over sovereignty in the Aegean and an unprecedented spike in Turkish provocations.

According to sources, the Greek military is particularly concerned about a possible surprise move by the Turkish Navy in the Aegean – either another attempt by a Turkish vessel to approach the Imia islets or a claim by Ankara to search and rescue rights in the area – that would ratchet up tensions further.

A week of challenges by Ankara, prompted by a Greek court decision on January 26 to reject a request for the extradition of eight Turkish military officers linked to last year’s failed coup, culminated in a terse verbal exchange.

Late on Friday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the “tone” and “absurd remarks” of Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos, saying that they were “deplorable.”

“We condemn his baseless, inappropriate as well as unethical expressions against our country and our President and return them to the owner,” the Turkish ministry said in a written statement issued late on Friday.

“It is so unfortunate that this person, with such lack of consideration, fairness and utter disregard for the most basic rules of courtesy at the international level, and being ignorant of the principal bilateral instruments regarding irregular migration, occupies the office of the Minister of National Defense of Greece at these difficult times for the whole world as well as our region,” the statement added and called on Greek authorities to “act with responsibility.”

The statement followed Kammenos’s comments during an interview with ANT1 TV during which he accused Ankara of “cowboy tactics” in the Aegean and defended his right to fly over the Imia islets, the sovereignty of which Turkish authorities contest. That overflight prompted a barrage of violations of Greek air space by Turkish jets – a record of 138.

Overall, Athens has opted for a low-key response to a series of statements by Turkish government officials broaching territorial claims in the Aegean.

Speaking from an EU leaders’ summit in Malta at the end of last week, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stressed that there are “no gray zones in the Aegean,” an apparent response to claims by his Turkish counterpart Binali Yildirim, according to which 130 rocky islets in the Aegean have “no identity.”

Diplomats fear that a power vacuum in Washington could mean that there will be a delay in any reaction if tensions escalate further. New US President Donald Trump has yet to fill key vacancies in the State Department and Defense Secretary’s office.

On a visit to Pristina at a troubled time for the EU-led Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said his country stood 'side by side' with Kosovo in its efforts to defend its sovereignty.

Albania's Prime Minister used an official visit to Kosovo on Thursday to stress the deep solidarity between the two countries at a time of serious tension between Kosovo and Serbia and following tough talks in Brussels between the two sides.

Guesting on a show on Thursday night on TV Klan Kosovo, Rama and Kosovo President Hashim Thaci talked about tensions with Serbia, about the controversial wall built by Serbs in the divided Kosovo town of Mitrovica, and about the train bearing the slogan "Kosovo is Serbia" that Serbia tried to send to the northern part of Kosovo.

Rama used the event to repeat that Albania stood by Kosovo's side when it comes to the issue of Kosovo's sovereignty over its territory.

"The issue of Kosovo's territory was closed on the day Kosovo declared independence [in 2008]," Rama said.

Kosovo and Albania are ... side by side in promoting peace, but also, in the theoretical hypothesis that this sovereignty needs to protected from anybody threatening it, we will remain stay side by side," Rama said.

Rama emphasised that this was just a hypothetical scenario as he did not see the sovereignty of Kosovo as currently at risk.

"We don't have to push this further, however there is no chance of Kosovo being violated on its territory, not even on a single square metre of it," Rama emphasized.

On Facebook on Friday, Rama repeated the solidarity that Albania shares with Kosovo in the wake of the latest tensions with Serbia.

"In Pristina ... we talked about the latest developments and joint challenges, highlighting the brotherly solidarity between Albania and Kosovo on the joint and difficult path towards peace and the democratisation of our states," he wrote.

On his visit to Pristina, Rama, met his counterpart, Isa Mustafa, President Thaci and the Mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti.

He also visited the office of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo party, AAK, whose leader, Ramush Haradinaj, remains detained in France under a Serbian warrant for war crimes.

The
Albanian nationhood as understood in the 19th century was part of a
romanticist notion of nationality, i.e., the Albanians were the Balkan
people whose mother tongue was Albanian regardless of any confessional
division of Albanian people into three denominations (Moslem, Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox).

Within the north Albanian tribes, especially among the Miriditi, the
Roman Catholic Church was very influential. The Roman Catholic Church
became the main protector of the Albanian language and cultural heritage
and the main protagonist of the national identity of the Albanians in
the Northern Albania. The expression of common notions of the Albanian
nationhood were expressed by the Albanian political leadership in the
years of the Balkan Wars 1912–1913 in slogans such as: “Neve Shqiptar
nuk jemi Greke, Sllav, or Teerk, neve jemi Shqiptar” (“We Albanians are
not the Greeks, Slavs, or Turks, we are the Albanians”).

The Albanian political “methodology” from the time of the First
Prizren League in 1878 until the Balkan Wars was applied in preparation
for unification of all “ethnically Albanian territories” in the Balkans
into (a “Greater”) Albania – a single national state of all Albanians,
i.e., within the ethnic borders demanded by the League in the years of
its existence from 1878 to 1881. Essentially similar national-state
concepts were also included in the political programs of the Albanian
Peja (Pejë) League, from 1899, the Greater Albanian Kosovo Committee,
from 1920, and the Second Prizren League, from 1943.

This included
preservation of the traditional, common law and local community as the
organizational basis of the national movement followed by the demand for
unification of all territories populated by the Albanians became
Albanian primary national interest from 1878 onward.

Clearly, the process of creation of Albanian nationality was not yet
completed at the end of the 19th century. The Albanian nation was not
considered a political reality in Europe by many politicians at that
time. The Albanian people were among the last ones in Europe to build up
their own national identity and national community. When during the
sessions of the Congress of Berlin in 1878 the question of Albania and
the Albanians was put on the agenda, the German Chancellor (Kanzzelar)
Otto von Bismarck decisively rejected discussing it with the explanation
that there was no Albanian nationality. For him, the Albanians were the
Turks.

At the same time, the Serbs (either from Serbia or from
Montenegro) and the Greeks considered themselves as a nation (i.e.,
ethnic groups which had their own state organizations), and as such were
understood by Europe, while the Albanians were understood as the Balkan
ethnic group (i.e., the group of people who did not have its own
state). Consequently, the ethnic group of Albanians could live only as
an ethnic minority included into some of the Balkan national state(s)
and could not expect more than the right to autonomy within it (them).
At the turn of the 20th century many politicians in Serbia, Montenegro
and Greece shared the opinion that the ethnic group of the Albanians was
culturally and politically incapable of a modern national development
and above all unable and insufficiently competent to establish and rule
their own national state.

The backwardness of the development of
Albanian society at the beginning of the 20th century was evidenced by
the fact that the initiation of a process of modernization shook the
Albanian tribal society, but failed to replace it with a modern
industrial, parliamentary and civil society. The Albanian national
movement was seen as an archaic social movement that could not reach a
level of national cohesion in modern terms.

This movement produced among
the Serbs, Montenegrins and Greeks a feeling of jeopardization of the
political and territorial integrity of Serbia, Montenegro and Greece.
For them, the theory of the Illyrian-Albanian continuity was in essence a
nationalistic ideological construction which became a driving
politically-ideological force for Albanian politicians to create, from
the Albanian point of view, their ethnic borders according to Albanian
acquired rights.

Geopolitically, this project, from 1878 to the present,
demands not only the territories which ethnically and historically
belong to the Albanians, but goes beyond them and encompasses the entire
Illyrian-Albanian ethnic population, dispersed in different areas over
the neighboring Balkan regions: Kosovo and Metohija, southern parts of
Central Serbia, Çameria (Greek Epirus and Greek Western Macedonia), the
western portion of the Republic of Macedonia (the FYROM) and the Eastern
Montenegro.
However, contrary to the theory of the backwardness of Albanian
social development, the Albanian political and intellectual leadership
from the turn of the 20th century has argued that the Albanians met all
conditions required by contemporary political science to be recognized
as a nation: 1) they have their separate ethnic, linguistic and cultural
identity; 2) the Albanian settlements in the Balkans are compact; 3)
the Albanians have a very precisely defined national program; and 4)
they possess the abilities to build up a community and their own
independent state which would be self-governed.

The Albanian political and intellectual leadership often stressed
that the Albanian people with their own national idea would never be
successfully integrated either into Serbian, Montenegrin or Greek
societies and states. That is, in addition to numerous and diverse
causes, also due to the fact that the Albanians do not belong to the
Slavic or Greek linguistic and cultural groups. There is also
significant divergence of national development of the Serbs,
Montenegrins, Greeks, on the one hand, and the Albanians, on the other.
These nations had a different kind of national movements and distinctly
different political elite and national ideology. However, the Albanian
national ideology of the Illyrian-Albanian ethnogenesis was created and
still exists as a pure myth in the form of a quasi-scientific political
propaganda for the sake of the creation of a “Greater” Albania.

Finally, the Albanians surely were among the very few Balkan peoples
who managed to find an internal balance between three faiths and to
build up the national identity associated with each one as Islam is
followed by 70% of Albanian population (primarily from Albania proper,
Kosovo and Metohija, the Western Macedonia and the Eastern Montenegro),
Eastern Orthodoxy is professed by 20% of the Albanians (chiefly from the
Southern Albania and the Greek Northern Epirus) and Roman Catholicism
is adhered by 10% of the Albanians (mainly from the Northern Albania
proper and Kosovo and Metohija).[10] In one word, the Illyrian theory of
the Albanian ethnogenesis played a crucial role in forming a common
Albanian identity regardless on confessional division of the Albanians.

The 19th century movement of the Albanian national awakening started
half a century later in contrast to a similar process of other Balkan
nations and an entire century after similar movements in Central Europe.
The cause of this delay was a general national-cultural
underdevelopment of the Albanian people who lived under the Ottoman
Empire for centuries without cultural and ideological connections to
Western Europe where the ideology and movement of nationalism emerged
and spread throughout the European continent. Subsequently, the ideas of
national identification, national statehood and the concept of
historical-ethnic territorial boundaries was realized by Albania’s
neighbors (the Greeks, Serbs and Montenegrins) well in advance of the
Albanian people.

When Albanian intellectuals during and after the Great
Eastern Crisis 1875–1878 theoretically shaped the thought and concept of
the Albanian national idea related to the question of fixing Albanian
national territories and creating an Albanian national state, they
faced, and had to struggle with, Serbian, Montenegrin and Greek national
aspirations towards the realization of their own national statehood.
This ideological, political and military fight was focused primarily on
the question upon certain “national” soils on the Balkans which would be
included either into a united Serbia, united Montenegro, united Greece
or united Albania: Kosovo and Metohija, Northern Epirus, Western
Macedonia, Skadar (Skutari) region in the Northwest Albania and the
territories around the city of Ulcinj and the Bojana river in the
Eastern Montenegro.

The national program of the First League of Prizren set up the
following two ultimate national goals of the Albanians: 1) the national
liberation of all Albanians, of whom a majority lived within the Ottoman
Empire and a minority in the independent states of Serbia and
Montenegro; and 2) the creation of a national state of the Albanians in
which the entire Albanian historical and ethnic territories would be
incorporated into Greater Albania.

This second requirement led the
Albanians in subsequent decades into open conflict with the neighboring
Christian states: Serbia, Montenegro and Greece. The national awakening
of the Albanian people in the years of 1878–1912 resulted in the
establishment of an ideology of nationhood and statehood that was, to a
greater or lesser extent, challenged and opposed by all of Albania’s
neighbors today – the Serbs, Greeks, Montenegrins and the Macedonian
Slavs.

The Panepirotic Federation of America vehemently condemns the brutal destruction by Albanian authorities on August 26 of a Greek Orthodox Church in the Chimara region of the former Communist nation that once prohibited all forms of religious worship. The Church of St. Athanasius in the town of Drymades, known in Albanian as Dhermi, was completely destroyed by government agents acting on the authority of Albania’s Interior Ministry.

Petitioning European Council

The land in Himara belongs to the people of Himara! Land and property registration NOW! Signe now this petition to the European Councile, for the registration of properties to the only and single eligible owner: the PEOPLE of Himara.

Himara Community of USA, Addresses Himarra Property Issues with US State Department / Ambassador

The Honorable John F. Kerry Secretary of State U.S. Department of State Dear Mr. Secretary: We are writing to inform you of issues affecting United States citizens who have vested interests in the municipality of Himarra, Albania, and to express our concern about their long outstanding and unresolved problems regarding property rights. Over 1500 US citizens of Himarrioton descent are disenfranchised of their rights to the ownership of their family properties which were confiscated in 1945 by the communist regime. They have been attempting to claim their family properties since the end of the communist period without success due to the laws and policies of the Albanian government which a) fail to address ownership rights of pre-1945 landowners, b) fail to address the rights of owners who were forced to emigrate to the United States for economic or political reasons, and c) fail to address the rights of those with dual citizenship who have attempted to claim their properties as Albanian citizens.

Opinion - Kisha Autoqefale dhe Greqia! (14 tetor 2013)

DEBAT NE OPINION TV KLAN

Welcome to Mapmart

Mapmart

Gogle Traslator

Total Pageviews

Officially: Omonoia, In Albania over 300.000 Greeks declared

30 % or 86,000, are declared electronically and this process includes 85 % of the members of the Greek minority Vlora Prefecture is the mostly populated by Greeks, there are about 90. 000 Greeks. TIRANA - Democratic Union of the Greek Ethnic Minority, Omonoia publishes the results of the census of members of the Ethnic Greek Community, organized by it structures. The Prime Census, was the decision of the General Council of the organization as members argued for exclusion of the Greek minority in the months Census October 2011, organized by the Institute of Statistics .

The history of elections of the Albanian dictator, to terrorize the people of Himara

A special Edition by SManalysis December 2, 1945: The Himariotes, abstaining from communist referendum, as happens usually for Himara the Albanian historians, never wrote this tragic history. Nikos Koutoulas, who boldly told the special communist court: "I'm Greek . I do not know Albanian, get me a interpret!" Still now, Albania never hold free politic elections, including Himara Municipality

Albanian Writer Raises Storm in Kosovo

Kosovo officials have rounded on Albanian writer Fatos Lubonja for saying that the political elites in both countries turned a blind eye to the crimes of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA. Besar Likmeta BIRN Tirana Albanian writer Fatos Lubonja In the article published in the May edition of the magazine Sudosteuropa, Lubonja focused on the reaction of Albania’s political class to the acquittal of the former KLA commander and Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj by the Hague Tribunal. Lubonja wrote that following Haradinaj’s release, the elite in Pristina and Tirana celebrated him as a hero, despite having enough information that the charges brought by prosecutors in the Hague were correct.

As long as human rights and civil liberties are violated in Himara Region primarily property, Greec

Himara Associations: Athens to block the status of Albania, if Tirana, does not solve the property issue Two associations based in Himara, "The Himara Community" and "Sea Coastal Association" have asked in a statement distributed to the media this afternoon that Greece "should block the candidate status for Albania" if Tirana, will not solve the problems of Human Rights and particularly the issue of the properties in Himara Region. The statement takes into consideration the visit Tirana following day of E.Venizelos the Greek Deputy Prime Minister also heads the Presidency of the European :

Albania minorities object to territorial division

Albania's civil society is calling on officials to diffuse tensions and protect minorities from discrimination and potential violence as a result of the decision to scrap the existing municipalities and create a new territorial administration. The government reduced the 384 local government units to 65, effectively creating entirely Albanian-majority municipalities. Greek, Macedonian and other minority representatives said the government's move violates their rights and international norms.

Poll: Albania, the most racist country in Europe

An international survey data from the World Value Survey collected and processed by the Washington Post reveals that Albania is the most racist country in Europe and worldwide more racists. The survey attempts to make a connection between economic development and being tolerant inside a society with ethnic crashes.. Thus, the most tolerant countries in the world are the Nordic countries, Great Britain and some of its former colonies, the United States, Canada and Australia. Countries with high tolerance are also in Latin America, where Venezuela exception.

Fatos Lobonja: Albania needs formatting not to rebirth

Fatos Lobonja, in an interview for the program "PULS" the KohaVision in Kosovo, there appeared criticism of developments in Albania. According Lubonja Albanians as a society still can not be consolidated. The reasons, according to him, are corrupt Albanian political elites on all sides, inside and abroad. He said they did not thirst for power leaves organize and move forward. Edi Rama's arrival at the head of government, according Lubonja, will not change the image of Albania, because Rama is associated with the oligarchs and organized crime. " He should answer that elite and non-citizens of Albania ", Lobonja estimates.

Nicholas Gage: Athens to give soon the Greek citizenship for thousand north epiriotes

World Council delegation of Epirus Abroad, meeting with the Ministry of Interior for the vote of northern epiriotes and the resolve the pension problem The visit of Nicholas Gage, is considering as the latest diplomatic effort of USA lobbing, for implementation of the "Protocol of Corfu" agreement, between Albania and Greece, based on the ulterior escalation in Balkan region. The Delegation of the World Council of Foreign Relation of Epirus (PSIE) headed by the Honorary President Nicolas Gkatzogianni, had a working meeting with the Greek Interior minister Stylianidis and v/ minister Syrigos.

Himariotes, lobbying in USA, for Autonomy

A group of people of Himara, with American citizenship, are lobbying to the US Congress and the State Department, that the Himara Region, receive the right for autonomy, according to international historical right to his self-determination. Proposed to merge all associations operating in USA, Greece and Albania, to be united in a single purpose: Autonomous Himara, Movements in the Balkans geopolitical, Mitrovica case, cutting pension from Greece, scarce public investment, robbery and illegal registration of property, etc., have raised a great concern, as never in the recent relationship of Himara, Albanian and Greek state relationship.

Pyrros Dimas, meeting with the Greek Minister of Labour, for problem of pensions to the Northern Ep

- Initiative of MP of PASOK, Pyrros Dimas for preparing and drafting a legislative proposal in collaboration with representatives of the Northern Epirus organizations. - The Minister agreed on the need to find a solution and urged the Member to develop concrete proposals, and that after consultation with the Secretary of the New Republic, Manolis Kefaloyiannis will be submitted jointly to the Minister of Finance.

"Kakome Case" again to the Albanian Tribunals

The Greek Community continues to "constant war" with the Albanian government to protect property. The apathy of Athens, to respond to the robbery of the properties in just the time, that OSCE, under the process of the registration of property in Ionian Coast, from European taxpayers, without any trasparence, is favoring according to Albanian law, alienation of property, of the Greek community , with the false documents.

Berisha: albanophobia threatens inter region

Berisha: "We must accept that they are the only people who live in 5 states. A nation that is unjustly divided into 5 states, a nation that wants to look to a common future. But again albanophobia is still in action " Albanian Prime Minister for the second time, threatening Greece, claiming that Albanians in Greece, should join the Albanian state.

NORTHERN EPIRUS THROUGH THE CENTURIES(LECTURE OF VASILIOS KYRANIS, Harvard University -1981) AL

Christos Pappas, in an interview with Arthur Zhei, News 24 TV

Pappas: "Northern Epirus is a region that holds arbitrary from Albania, as recognized by the great powers, the Protocol of Corfu. The Law of War against Albania, can not remove from Papoulias nor Greek parliament, but the Greek army is ready to liberate the Northern Epirus, again

Search This Blog

After a life threatening message to Archbishop Janullatos

42 Orthodox clergy against census and Red & Black Alliance: Janullatos has not afraid of death 42 Tirana archdiocese Orthodox clergy have reacted with a joint statement in defense of Anastasios Yannoulatos. Their attitude comes after strong reactions against the Red & Black Alliance, for Archbishop and after a census that sees Orthodox in third place in terms of religion in the country.

Albania: 100 years, Berisha plays 'great Albania' trump card

In Tirana Albanian leaders, tensions with Macedonia 28 November, 10:49 (ANSAmed) - TIRANA, NOVEMBER 28 - Albania's black and red national flag with a double-headed eagle is waving across the country which is celebrating today its 100th anniversary of independence in a tense political climate. The centre-right Premier Sali Berisha has been calling for days for an ethnic-national unification of all Albanians living in different Balkan states, in efforts to revive a strong nationalism which is rejected by Albania's opposition.

The Official Site of The Himara Community

CONTINUES THE DEBATE IN WASHINGTON D.C. FOR THE PROPERTY RIGHTS OF AMERICAN CITIZENS FROM NORTHERN

According to the Greek organisation of Albania estimates there are thousands of Greek American citizens from Northern Epirus (Southern Albania) which is refering the Journalist Lambros Papantoniou, asking the Spokesman of State Department for the rights of American citizens with Greek origin to take their properties in Southern Albania. Papantoniou is refereeing a Memo between Albanian State and USA about the civil rights especially for the properties of American citizens who are interested to take them according to Albanian Constitution and laws the properties of family generation. This is the second debate of the veteran Journalist for Balkan Issues in State Department Lambros Papantoiou who accuses over all the Sali Berisha Regim in Albania supported by the President Bush.

A Response to AFP

SManalysis Orthodox churches of Albania, are Byzantine churches, belong to the property of the population of Epirus.....

Avramopoulos`s speach during NATO meeting

Greece threatens Albania blocking the integration process after Berisha's statements Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, has expressed his concern at the NATO ministerial meeting about rising tide of nationalism in Albania and premature declarations of the government. In a press release the Greek Foreign Ministry said that "the growth of nationalism and populism in some of our neighboring countries is a source of great concern."

The U.S. talk of "change of borders in the Balkans"

Message-warning sent to Albania by the U.S. representative to the State Department, which in a statement said that any change of borders in the Balkans "would be counterproductive and destabilizing," but the issue is that for the first time put the U.S. even and negative mood on any change of borders in the Balkans ...

INUK në Vlorë, pronarët: Me dokumenta të rregullta dhe leje ndërtimi

ENIKOS.GR

GREEK NEWS FROM NIKO`S BLOG

PREMIUM, THE GREEK TRASFORMATION

The "Kissinger Plan": Confederations Macedonia, Epirus, Thrache,

THE BIG CHANGE IN PERIVOLO, DRYMADES, HIMARA REGION

Dhermi, (Drymades, Himara Region) between natural beauty and destruction Look at those videos, before in 2010, everything natural and in 2012 the differences, the big changes how are divided Mafia plots, see whose investments are shown, with the camera of a sportsman parachute, in Long Beach "Perivolo" in Dhrymades, the Himara Region. Look at how this summer 2012, the Concessions of Mafia provided by The Himara Counsil Municipality and the Government of Albania, have become a reality. The Sand Beach Drymades, is transformed in the sidewalks and kiosks. See how they are transformed Dhermi, in a few years, in an administrative center, disrupting also balance the religious and ethnic composition of himariotes.

Robert Elsie: If I would live in Albania, it would be crazy. It is the same as in Ottoman times

After known albanolog Milan Shufla, Robert Elsie is the best conteproranean albanian albanolog in the World During his intereweu on "Top Channely TV, Robert Elsie, on his first interview on TV. expresed his story about Albanian and Albanian state in 100 years. An interesting tale scholar known for his work difficulties in view of the Albanian language. Elsie, who knows Albanians for years, amounts to a chilling conclusion. He says he will not ever live in Albania, as it will go mad. "I can not live here. It's a little wild for me, the relationships between people are a bit wild. I know that is just a facade that inside have good spirit, but have a rabies in human relations. You know how to protect yourself here, and here I am like a rabbit, he can not defend myself. I come here with pleasure, but do not believe they can afford to come and live here forever. There is much frustration of everyday life. Life is too short and I do not have time to bump into obstacles, only to achieve something, when in another country and get away and then live my life, "said Elsie to Albanian. And while Enver Hoxha's Albania as compared with that of Sali Berisha, adds: "There is something that depends only on the party, it's more the attitude of the people. So to get something going, you have to know someone in the Ministry, to drink coffee with, then drink coffee again next week with even a third time, and then he connects with the person that you are interested . That is the same as in Ottoman times, not like a normal country. ".

Separatists gaining ground in Europe

Greece, is going to Plan B: grant for 600 thousand Greek citizenship, at the Consulates

Failure of the Census in Albania, apparently, has forced Athens, put in place, going to Plan B to its foreign policy, grant citizenship to all Hellenic Community of Northern Epirus (Greek passports) through three Greek consulates in Albania. According to “The Albanian newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare”, in a statement issued by the Greek Consul in Argjirokaster, Nikolaos Kotroxois, will begin soon, giving the Greek passports to Albanian citizens of Greek descent, who have applied for years. The decision is taken, after Athens, has used all diplomatic sources to have to Tirana, the same wavelength, particularly in geopolitical matters, particularly Kosovo. In his statement, the Greek Foreign Minister Stavros Dimas, noted, that Tirana, continues to show towards Greece, feeling not sincere cooperation, while simultaneously calling for the right to self-determination of the Greek community in Albania.

BERISHA: GREATER ALBANIA, WE LOST TERRITORIES

he Albanian Prime Minister held a meeting with Prishtina University students, in which he argued why he is against the unification of Albania with Kosovo and why both countries would lose, if borders would be changed. “The vital interest of the Albanians is to preserve the current borders, and the Albanians should not accept, at any cost, to lose a single square meter of the land they are entitled to. Another redraw of the borders would mark undeserved losses of the Albanian territories. We must be patient, free, and should not undertake any action that threatens territorial losses. Every generation has to make its duty, and this generation made it”, Berisha declared.

Dimas:"The Greek ethnic Community in Albania has the right of free of charge self-determination"

The reliability of the results of population census in Albania, in terms of minority groups, directly challenging the foreign minister Stavros Dimas, diaminyontas same time that the Respect for human and minority rights is … crucial criterion for the progress of the accession method of our neighbor. In a letter sent to the Home in response to a question from a Member of LA.OS K. Aivaliotis, Dimas says that “the foreign ministry has closely followed all the developments surrounding the census in Albania, even though produced timely plays, both bilateral and European level to make sure the integrity process and unimpeded registration of members of the Greek National Minority, and each location of residence of such ». As outlined, the “Selection of the representatives of the main minority groups, including the Greek National Minority, invite their members to abstain in protest not guaranteed to respect the right of free of charge self-determination, showed a significant deficit of trust minority in the Albanian state, which ought to itself the Albanian government to address priority ».

The Constitutional Court Decision on December 1, the Latter abolished the term Ethnic certificate of Its Citizens. In the Decision, panels argues why the notion of "nationality" is incompatible with the constitution When Its state charter law does not provid a clear definition of Its meaning. In Assessing the Court, "nationality" as defined concept without, unlike Other components of civil law does not Create a link that 'translates the Mutual rights and duties of Natural Persons and state.

While the total population in Himara Municipality, does not exceed 12 thousand inhabitants, a source from the prosecution of Vlora, shows that the problems of ownership at the squirrels region have reached the 7500 court proceedings and special investigations, which marks a world record, by how a country like Albania, could not manage the right of ownership, in one of the areas attacked by the Albanian mafia and international. However, the U.S. Department Report for 2004 on human rights in Albania, states clearly that in the Himara Municipality, the community lands and the Orthodox Church, was robbed by a Courts with false documents, supported by the Office of Propetry Registration in Albania.

Arben Puto: Albania has declared war against Greece first

In his book "The Italian Greek War", Arben Puto, well known historian of the era of dictatorship in Albania, writes that: "In a unanimous decision of the Albanian Parliament on July 15, 1940, was ratified, the Italian Fascist royal decree, which declared all war allies France and Britain, including the USA and Greece. So need to Albanians, to be aware that Greece was not declared war Albania, but Albania, with military battalions that attacked Greece on 28 October 1940 ".

WB returns to Ionian Riviera residence reconstruction

Another World Bank project is being executed with the help of the Albanian authorities for the reconstruction of the residences in Albania’s southern coastline. The 625.000 USD project aims to protect and promote the values of the Albanian national architecture in the Southern part of the country, in order to prevent destruction and abandonment of the traditional houses. “Shqip” newspapers says that the Ministry of Public Works is the WB partner in the “Roofs and Facades” project. The implementation of the program has started in the villages classified as participators: Dhermi i Vjeter, Qeparo i Vjeter, Ilias, Vuno, Himare e Vjeter, Piqeras, Nivice and Luksht. The World Bank will finance 70% of the restauration cost, with a maximum of 7000 USD, while the program “Accommodation and Breakfast” will finance 50 of the restoration cost, with a maximum of 5,000 USD. The program “Roofs and Facades” aims to restore 72 houses in 18 months. 20 of them will adopt with the conditions of modern life, in the framework of the program “Accommodation and Breakfast”.

In Albania, at 20 years post-dictatorship, 8 thousands murders, for the issue of property

The shocking data, are given by the Prosecutor General, to the Albanian press Shocking facts which, in the wake of Albania rank Civil War, the high level of killings, including the year 1997 Through the Albanian press, Attorney General, has published shocking facts about the increasing number of murders in Albania, especially for issues of ownership. Clic on photo ....

Himara 26 centuries, a history of glorious Independence

HIMARA, THE NEXT MONTE CARLO`S IN EPIRUS

First step to Greater Albania: Kosovo Opens First Highway Section

A 38 kilometre-tranche of the road, which will eventually cross the country from the Albanian to Serbian border, was opened on Saturday. The first section, which runs from Vermica on the Albanian border to close to the town of Suhareka, cost 330 million euro. Senior Kosovo and Albania government officials were present at the inauguration ceremony. In a speech, Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga said that the "highway has the role of linking nations and countries". "It is our link with important European corridors. Our coordinated policy will make us a free and equal members of the European Union," she added. Named the "Ibrahim Rugova Highway", after Kosovo's most famous president, the road connects with Albania's first highway, which was also built by the Turkish-American consortium Bechtel-Enka.

George Goro: Registration of properties on the southern coast of Albania faces difficulties

The process of registration of property in southern coastal areas of Albania is getting quite difficult. Mayor George Himara Goro says it has so far only completed the registration of houses and land but not land. Problems with documentation and the implementation of the Land Law difficult, according to him, residents in this process.

The Monument of Independence of Albania, is in hassle

PDIU Cam Community Party, the Socialist Party's local leader in Vlora, and "Red & Black Alliance", are making a nationalistic competition, the Monument of Independence and the Albanian national flag. Few days ago, Prime Minister Sali Berisha, said the establishment of a new monument to the independence of Albania in Tirana, implying, dismiss the historical tradition of Albanian independence in Vlora.

Himarrioton Society of America

The Himarriotans of America, motivated by the love of Himarra, the land of their native origin, and dedicated to the noblest ideals of their forfathers, have established this organization which aspires to the cultivation and preservation of Himarriotic culture in America, to making a positive difference in the lives of its members, and to promoting the rights and interests of the Himarriotans in Himarra, through the realization of patriotic, charitable, philanthropic, educational and cultural endeavors.

Opinion in Kosovo: "Socialists in Albania, are filo Greek"

The Chairman of the Opposition in Albania, Edi Rama, accused by the press in Kosovo that "he is with filo Greek sentiments" If, Sali Berisha, Albania's current prime minister, is expected both in Macedonia and Kosovo, as president of the Albanian nation, this has not happened with the chairman of the opposition in Albania, Edi Rama. During a recent visit to Kosovo, Edi Rama is unpopular, the fact that the perception of public opinion in Kosovo, is that the south, is the area close to Greece, but especially Rama and the Socialist Party, was accused of holding a position filo Greek, against the interests of Greater Albania.